Author of the book "Marfa Flights: Aerial Views of Big Bend Country" from Texas A&M University Press. Chaplo is an architectural, aerial, HABS and corporate photographer Paul Chaplo has years of Fortune 500 experience and a terminal master's degree in photography. He works in Dallas and Forth Worth, TX area and all of Texas.

Breathtaking views of the rugged Texas Big Bend country from the air . . .

Each year, thousands of people visit Big Bend National Park and other locations in this remote section of West Texas, marveling at the stark and magnificent landscapes carved by eons of volcanism, wind, and water into the arid, mountainous country along the Rio Grande River. But until now, very few—other than hawks or eagles—have ever surveyed this fiercely beautiful region from above.

In Marfa Flights: Aerial Views of Big Bend Country, photographer Paul V. Chaplo takes readers on an unforgettable sky excursion over Big Bend.
An introduction by longtime director of the Museum of the Big Bend, Larry Francell, traces the history of aerial photography in Big Bend, from air patrols during the Mexican Revolution to W. D. Smithers’ army flyovers to the helicopter flights after the recent Rock House fire. He also reminds us that this unique view of the land, where water is disappearing at the same time more and more humans arrive, serves as both art and documentation, a record of a changing landscape in an increasingly fragile environment.

Flying from Marfa, Chaplo heads south to Big Bend National Park, over the Chisos Mountains to the Rio Grande. He follows the river west to Lajitas, Terlingua, and Candelaria, then veers back north to the “starry stairway” of the Davis Mountains, where the McDonald Observatory is perched. The photos capture the shapes, textures, and colors of the rugged landforms people usually see only from the ground. This dramatic perspective underscores the age and remoteness of Big Bend and displays an immense topographic tableau of strange and austere beauty.